APG-L Archives

From: Claire Bettag <>
Subject: NHPRC funding
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 2006 13:41:39 -0400

The message below was posted on today's mail list of the National
Coalition for History. It provides a convenient way for our members—
and all genealogists—to urge Congress to preserve funding for NHPRC.

Claire Bettag
-----------------
CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTERS OF NHPRC ISSUE "DEAR COLLEAGUE" LETTER
The co-chairs of the Congressional Humanities Caucus, Rep. Jim Leach
(R-IA) and Rep. David Price (D-
NC), have prepared a Dear Colleague letter in support of the National
Historical Publications and Records
Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives and
Records Administration that
was "zeroed-out" in President Bush's FY 2007 budget. A "Dear
Colleague" letter is the primary way that a
member of Congress is able to communicate support for a federal
agency program to the appropriations
committee with jurisdiction over that program.

The letter requests $12 million ("full-funding" for national programs
plus $2 million for staffing) for the
NHPRC. The letter also calls for a portion of the funds to be used
"to strengthen statewide disaster
preparedness" and to provide "funding...to assist all states in
developing state disaster plans for both vital
and historical records" – in essence the state formula grant program
endorsed by several national
archival organizations and expected to be embraced by the NHPRC on a
formal basis at a future meeting.

The letter seeks to persuade members that funding to the full
authorized level is necessary to continue to
provide access to key documents of our democracy, history, and
culture and to provide much needed
federal support for records held by state and local governments,
historical societies, libraries, and related
organizations. The deadline for Members of Congress to sign-on is
Friday, 14 April 2006.

Readers who wish to urge their member of Congress to "sign-on" to the
"Dear Colleague" may call, email,
or fax representatives and ask them to sign this letter. A large
number of signatures on the Dear
Colleague letter, particularly if they represent both sides of the
aisle, will send a very important message to
decision-makers within the Transportation/Treasury subcommittee as
they begin to work on the mark-up
of the FY 2007 appropriations bill.

A draft message that readers can consider using is posted on the
"Humanities Advocacy Network" (a joint
undertaking of the National Coalition for History, the National
Humanities Alliance, and the Federation of
State Humanities Councils) at < http://www.humanitiesadvocacy.org/
action_ctr.html >. You can use this
site to compose and send e-mails to Congress.

To do so, here is what you do: Click on the web link address above;
at the Humanities Advocacy Network
main web page click on "Action Center" button (second from the left);
next, click on the "Issues and
Legislation" "click here" button (3rd button down) and follow the
instructions in the "Current Action Alerts"
section that pops up next and reads "Save the NHPRC." Additional
talking points at this web site are
provided to help customize your message. You may also use the
Humanities Advocacy Network to
compose and print out letters to fax.

All members of Congress can also be reached by phone through the
Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-
3121.

This thread:

• NHPRC funding by Claire Bettag <>